Fire In The Park went Platinum

Congratulations to Stormzy and his team, with Shut Up now officially certified platinum. Not entirely sure if this has happened before, but it’s a big win, not just for Big Mike, but all those who helped pave the way before, as what is essentially a freestyle, (in this streaming era) is now officially certified platinum.

I don’t get excited over too much, however, not long ago I saw the official charts tweet a picture of a smiling Giggs, announcing Landlord as the second highest selling album in the country, and now, two years after it’s debut, a freestyle video does such numbers, further denting and pushing the limitations that often felt placed upon our scene. It’s something a lot of us have worked towards seeing.

This moment definitely proves the powers of good music, the scene and the unified support of the people, as the sounds reach new ears, taking the underground over. Many artists turned away from freestyles, focusing on original songs that could generate a profit, streaming might just have changed that, imagine how many times we would have streamed the Wiley or Skepta ‘Westwood’ freestyles?!

Big up the Section trio, Flipz, and all the mandem in the video, you’re all a part of history still. And a massive shout out to, “my man over there with the pouch”, you’re forever certi’ (well at least to 50 million+ people).